Board chairman Keith Radig said he believes the entire board is in agreement to vote next Tuesday to approve an architecture contract during the next supervisors meeting, a step that could lead to the construction of a 440-bed facility.

"There's a lot of options out there, and we want to pursue the best option," Radig said. "It's not about creating a better place for prisoners to live. It's about having a safer place for the workers, and it's about having a safer city by having people who need to be in jail in jail instead of letting them out because you don't have the capacity to hold them."

The new law enforcement center would have approximately 206 beds more than the current jail.

The project would cost an estimated cost of $49.5 million. According to Kenny Schmitz, director of building services, the price tag of a new detention facility is more than double the projected cost of renovating the current law enforcement center at 407 7th St. -- around $22 million.

However, all who spoke during Tuesday night's meeting advocated for the construction of a new facility, including Woodbury County Sheriff Dave Drew.

"To me, it'd be like throwing the dice and hoping," Drew said, speaking about the choice to renovate the current law enforcement center, which has been releasing inmates early to free up bed space for new inmates. "We're trying to decide who gets out ... That's not a good way to keep a community safe."

The county's current law enforcement center was built in 1986, originally constructed to hold 90 inmates. After two renovations, the facility can now hold up to 234. But according to Drew, each and every bed is taken every night.

The chapel, built in 1911, is made completely of marble and tile. Since the city's rehabilitation program for Graceland park cemetery, which began in the early 1950s, this chapel has been cleaned and now glistens brightly amid surroundings of green trees and well kept grass.

I.J. Rocklin, the founder of Rocklin Manufacturing Co. in Sioux City, shows off his invention -- the Rocklinizer -- in the mid-1950s. The Rocklinizer electronically deposits carbide, a hard and wear-resistant material, to tools and dies to extend their useful life.

Zale's Jewelers, shown in this photo from the late 1950s, has been in downtown Sioux City since it purchased the former Crescent Jewelers at the present location at Fifth and Pierce streets in 1957. For a time it was known as Zale's Crescent Jewelers. The downtown store was closed because Zale's wished to be inside the West End Mall when it was completed.

Boy Scouts pull balloons down the street during the December 1950 Christmas Parade in this photo taken by former Sioux City Journal photographer George Newman. The snowstorm was so strong that it reportedly lifted the balloons and the scouts off the ground.

Businessman Charles Breun’s Victorian-style mansion, at 1431 Grandview Blvd., in the Rose Hill neighborhood, is shown in this photo from around 1900. The home was built in 1891. Breun owned a grocery store at 407 Pearl St., which later became the home of the Sioux City Public Museum’s Pearl Street Research Center until it moved into the new museum at 607 Fourth St. The house burned down in the early 1950s.

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According to Schmitz's analysis, in order to update the existing facility, prisoners would need to be transferred for an estimated four months. This would drive up transportation costs as inmates would be ferried to other detention facilities in the state.

For years, the law enforcement center has faced problems across the board, including infrastructural issues. Radig, Schmitz and Drew believe this is a chance to turn the page and keep the county safer.

"Sitting on our hands isn't going to make it go away or get any better," Schmitz said. "We're hoping, we know, a new facility would be run more efficiently."

Courthouse elevators

Courtroom repairs

Kenny Schmitz, Woodbury County Building Services director, climbs over a bench in Courtroom 203 on the second-floor of the county courthouse in July 2016. The courtroom was closed while workers repaired a slab of marble that fell out of a window surround and almost caused stained glass windows to fall out of their frames.

Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse terra cotta

Straps and a board hold up a failing terra cotta tile at the Woodbury County Courthouse in 2016.

Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse terra cotta

Kenny Schmitz, Woodbury County Building Services Director, raises a lift to a loose piece of terra cotta at the Woodbury County Courthouse in 2016. Terra cotta tiles on the south side of the building's exterior were in immediate danger of falling down to the ground and there several additional areas where cement grout was missing on the decorative tiles.

Tim Hynds, Sioux City Journal

Election Watch Party

People attend an election watch party at the Woodbury County Courthouse in November 2016.

Justin Wan, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse repair

Ceiling tiles at the Woodbury County Courthouse, shown in December 2016, were in need of repairs.

Justin Wan, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse architecture

The Woodbury County Courthouse features sculptural work by Alfonso Iannelli, an influential Italian-American modernist artist who briefly worked with Frank Lloyd Wright.

Justin Wan, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse architecture

Two buffalo head sculptures can be seen on the backside of the Woodbury County Courthouse, which opened in 1918. The building is an example of Prairie School architecture.

Justin Wan, Sioux City Journal

Courthouse exterior

The Woodbury County Courthouse, which opened in March 1918 at 620 Douglas St., houses courtrooms and most county departments.

Sioux City Journal file

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